Various ice maker designs have been proposed for refrigeration appliances such as commercial or home refrigerators and/or freezers. In certain ice makers known as float ice makers, ice cubes are formed beneath the surface of chilled water. The water is generally maintained just above the freezing point and elements that are colder than the freezing point are employed to form ice cubes beneath the surface. When the ice is sufficiently formed for harvesting, it floats upward to be removed from the chilled water for storage or dispensing.
If ice cubes are removed from the tank of chilled water when they are made and passed to a holding container in a colder freezer compartment, the ice cubes will naturally get colder. The ice cubes may therefore become harder and cloudy, and individual ice cubes may freeze together or to the sides of the holding container. Some consumers do not find such colder, cloudy ice cubes preferable, and would rather have ice cubes closer to the freezing temperature.
However, in typical refrigeration appliances having refrigerator portions and freezer portions, neither of these portions is typically held at such a temperature near the freezing temperature of water. Accordingly, an improved design would be welcome for a float-type ice maker wherein ice cubes more approximating the freezing temperature of water, and not substantially below such temperature, are made available from a conventional refrigeration appliance without a compartment held at such temperature.